10 Tips for: Going Beyond the Book
Independent publishing is a well of opportunity for the writer with a bit of a creative spark. Writing the next book seems like the next logical step in any author career; however, when we think of independent publishing only in terms of paperbacks, print books, ebooks, and audiobooks, we’re missing entire avenues through which to grow our audiences, our story worlds, and our businesses.
For some authors, a book alone is not enough; they find success by viewing the book as just one way to make money from their story, with other mediums and creative outlets taking that intellectual property (IP) even further.
Here are ten ways authors are taking their IP beyond the book—and ten tips for how you can follow in their footsteps.
Try Something New
There’s no limit to what an indie author can create and no rules to follow—other than find an audience and feed it. Author Maggy Beeler took that rule literally; her book of mocktail and cocktail recipes based on popular genre tropes, called Tropetails, has kicked off a series of events at local bars and breweries, in which one brewery even sold out of gin thanks to the popularity of the book’s drinks in-house.Beeler’s story shows that an author can find their audience anywhere, even outside of traditional channels. Think outside the box, and don’t be afraid to try something new or unexpected to grab your audience’s attention or broaden your business. Storytelling exists in countless forms, and that new idea or outlet you’re exploring may just spark a success story of your own.
Listen While You Read
Authors are now seeing the value in making their books stand out from the crowd by offering more than just the words on the page. Specifically, they’re giving readers access to the soundtrack of the story—including external links in their ebooks or QR codes in their print books to playlists that are specifically curated or created for them. If you’re looking to expand your IP, take it a step further, and create songs and media specifically for your projects. There are multiple options for producing audio tracks, from recording them yourself to hiring freelancers or using generative AI. Use these tracks as bonus content, as another layer of ambience in an audiobook, or on their own in other creative ways to pull readers even deeper into your story world.
Create Premium Content
Does the end of your book really need to be the end? Stephenie Meyer’s Midnight Sun was a retelling of the original Twilight novel with a different POV that was published in 2020. The book was released fifteen years after the original story, yet it immediately topped bestseller lists and revived interest in the series.Like Meyer, some authors are now seeing opportunities in altering their published books, offering alternative scenes behind a paywall or in exchange for an email signup. Try writing a chapter or two from a new perspective, creating a different ending to the story, or writing an epilogue that stretches a few years beyond where your story originally stopped. These writing exercises can be a fun way to return to an old story world for the author, but they also can go a long way in building out a world for readers who might be craving more. Plus, you may just spark an idea for a spin-off series in the process.
Brainstorm Merchandise Options
When looking to expand IP into other mediums, authors need to think about the reader’s experience. How will this story best be told? What details or pieces of merchandise will connect with audiences most?Perhaps your story has a quote that would make a great T-shirt, or your character mentions a favorite recipe in an important scene of the story. Science Fiction author Christopher Hopper has created collectible trading cards for the characters in his Hopperverse. As you write, keep merchandise opportunities in mind—your book doesn’t have to be all that you create, and in many cases, it could be the catalyst for another corner of your business.
Revive Your Old Works
Breathing new life into an old backlist title is a strategy authors can use to get a bit more out of a book that once did well but may have fallen by the wayside. Make your old books feel new again through new cover designs or special edition print runs. Printers such as 48 Hour Books or Bookvault offer a variety of customizations, such as sprayed edges, gold-foil covers, and slipcases, depending on which company you choose and the specifications of your book. Even incorporating unreleased chapters or publishing revised copies of an old story can not only make a project worth collecting but also make it feel like you’ve created something new for your audience—all without you having to write another book.
Create a Whole New World
Some authors, especially in genres such as Fantasy and Sci-Fi, are world-builders, creating massive playgrounds for their characters and filling them with conflict, turmoil, heartbreak, and love. Why not turn these expansive worlds into something tangible for the readers who love them? Some authors have opted to actually create these worlds in other mediums, such as interactive maps, vellum paper tip-ins, and scrolls with burned edges and tied with twine. These props can become giveaway prizes, rewards for readers who back a crowdfunding campaign or purchase a book directly through your website, or more—and for your superfans, they’ll be valuable collectors’ items.
Your Book: The Game
From Harry Potter video games to Star Wars–themed tabletop role-play games, if a fan base is large enough and rabid enough, they’ll look for any opportunity to go deeper into their favorite worlds. Some authors are taking note of this and turning their books into board games, card games, or tabletop games for their fans to enjoy, then running Kickstarter campaigns to make sure the project can be funded. They’re also finding success—indie Horror author Duncan Ralston saw his Kickstarter project for Ghostland: The Game funded with just a few hundred backers.
Make Movies … from a Book?
Over the past few years, there’s been an exponential increase in the number of AI programs available. Outside of the usual large-language models like Claude and ChatGPT, several tools for generating short-form video have also emerged. Applications like Freepik and Google Gemini (VEO3) can now make lifelike videos for a reasonable price, in the form of credits purchased for the respective platforms. Using these tools, authors can consider important scenes, character introductions, or bonus content that would work well in a visual medium. Making book trailers and even short-form video episodes of a book to share online and as promotional content on social media was something once affordable largely only to big-box studios or Big Five publishers, but today, AI platforms provide authors who are interested an affordable and accessible route for expanding their IP into video.
Early Chapters for the Win
The creator economy is one in constant flux, and authors have long sought ways to deepen their relationship with readers, not in competition with other authors but in competition for readers’ attention.Some authors have found an opportunity in showing their readers how much their attention is worth by offering chapters of their books before they’re published, either as newsletter sign-up incentives or on subscription sites like Substack or Patreon. Some authors have even streamed themselves writing the books in real time. Authors at any level can use this opportunity to deepen their relationship with readers, monetize the access to the chapters, build hype, and even get constructive feedback before publication.
Pro Tip: Providing your most supportive readers a sneak peek of your story before it’s published also gives you the chance to receive beta feedback as you write. If your audience doesn’t like the direction a book is taking, they’ll be able to let you know—and you’ll be able to fix it as you write instead of in revisions afterward.
Go Direct to Audio
With the advent of cost-effective AI narration, some authors have opted out of writing novels for print and instead write primarily for audio-focused audiences. Enter YouTube, where a host of faceless channels have emerged to tell stories. Some print authors choose to post their audiobooks for free on YouTube and benefit from Google AdSense, but publishing stories directly for audio on YouTube is different. Storytellers rely on highly “binge-able” episodic chapters, where placing mid-roll ads won’t be as intrusive and listeners are encouraged to come back for more—think in terms of TV show arcs rather than blockbuster movie storylines.
Wrapping It up Neatly
The indie author landscape is an ever-changing playground, with opportunities abounding for any author who sees more for their books than just a paperback, audiobook, and ebook. Where the debate was once whether to publish through Kindle Unlimited or wide, authors today are going wider than wide and more indie than indie. They’re taking their books to the farthest reaches of their IP, making more money and feeding their audience more of what they crave.
David Viergutz
